Letter from Charles Manly to David L. Swain, October 4,
1856: Electronic Edition. Manly, Charles, 1795-1871Funding from the University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill supported the electronic publication of this title.Text transcribed byBari HelmsImages scanned byBari HelmsText encoded byBrian DietzFirst Edition, 2005ca. 20KThe University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Chapel Hill, North Carolina2005

David L. Swain Papers (#706), Southern
Historical Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Letter from Charles Manly to David L. Swain, October
4, 1856Charles Manly8 pages, 9 page images1856Call number 706 (Southern Historical Collection,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

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Letter from Charles
Manly to David L. Swain, October 4, 1856
RaleighOct. 4/56My Dear Gov,

After stating that I send you enclosed a Copy of the Proceedings of the
Executive Committee, had today & a
Copy of Monsr Herrisse's Bill of Indictment against the
Faculty, & an expression of my opinion that when the Prisoners shall have made their defence that the
"Informer & Prosecutor will be ordered to pay the
costs" & be without a day in Court.

The residue of this epistle is strictlyprivate & confidential.

The political essay of Profr Hedrick which appeared in
the Standard yesterday has given great pain to the Trustees &
Friends of the University. No apology nor justification has
been heard in his defence. At the meeting of the Executive Com. today a resolution was offered requesting him to
resign & in case of refusal to dismiss him peremptorily.But other counsels prevailed. The opinions
& advise of other Trustees here, not members of the Committee, were heard, the resolution was
withdrawn & it was finally agreed unanimously that you shall be requested to use your influence in
persuading him to resign. Indeed, I was requested to go up to the Hill &
to cooperate with you in bringing about this result. But my health is bad, I
have little acquaintance with Mr. Hedrick & I can't see what I
could do by going.

If he has any sensibility or proper self respect an intimation that it is the
wish of the Trustees that he shall resign will be sufficient; but if he
wishes to be dismissed; that he may fly to Yankeedom as the great Proscribed; & find refuge in the
bosom of Black Republicans with the blood of martyrdom streaming from his skirts, then he will not resign but
will wait to be kicked out. I hope therefore that you will put on your
Diplomatic Cap & manage this thing right.

If it were not so painful for me to sit up long & write, I would give
you a full page on the utter want of tact, good taste, prudence, &
common sense in Hedrick's writing & publishing such an
essay on the eve of a heated political campaign.

He is without excuse & is bound to go overboard, but the thing is to do this with the least damage to
him & with the least noise & damage to the Institution.

A memorial from Mons Herrisse, Instructor in French,
complaining of the disorderly conduct of one of the Students to him
& also of the proceedings of the Faculty in relation thereto,
was laid before the Committee &
thereupon

Resolved

That the Secretary furnish the Faculty through President Swain, with
a copy of said memorials; & that the President be requested to
cause, to be laid before this Committee,
as early as convenient, a full copy of the Journal or proceedings of the
Faculty had in relation to the complaint of Mons
Herrisse.

The Report of the Committee appointed at the last
meeting in relation to the burning of the Belfry was read &

Resolved

That the President of the University be requested to lay
before the Solicitor of the Fourth Judicial Circuit all the information
in his possession as to the burning of the Belfry with the request of
this Committee that the Solicitor cause the
case to be judicially investigated & the guilty persons indicted
& that the Secretary return to the President the papers
& statements of the several members of the Faculty&
Students heretofore made upon that subject.

The reply of the Faculty to the Resolutions of the Committee adopted at the last meeting was read &
ordered to be filed.

Committee adjourned.

To the Executive Committee of the Board of
Trustees of the University of North CarolinaGentlemen:

It is a difficult matter at all times, to command the attention
& respect of a large class of College Students; but when the
discipline is lax & impunity an occurrence of every day
life, the task of the instructor becomes altogether impossible. If
to his manifold tribulations, we add, a disposition on the part of
his colleagues to drive him to a resignation, or if such a belief is
current among the Students, a due sense of self-respect makes it
incumbent on him to apply for redress, to those, to whom the
individual welfare of the members of the Faculty is intrusted.

Without referring to the difficulties, which of late have been a
cause of great annoyance and mortification to me, I shall limit
myself, to the case, which today, & for the last time brings
me before you.

Mr William
Whitaker of the Junior Class had often been guilty of
disorder, and impropriety in my recitation room. I was at last
compelled to resort to stringent measures, and on the 4th of October last, summoned him to appear
before the Faculty. There, in the presence of all the officers of
the Institution, he grossly insulted me. An explanation was demanded
of him; & here are almost the very words of his communication:

"I have been told by Dr Mitchell,
that if I do not retract what I said yesterday, I shall be
dismissed. I therefore retract."

Strange as it may appear to those who are not familiar with the
proceedings of this Faculty, such a letter was accepted.

A few weeks afterwards, Mr Whitaker's improprietiesof conduct became again so intolerable,
that I had to reiterate my summons.

Mr
Whitaker was heard, & the Faculty decided that if he
ever was guilty of such an offence again, he would be dismissed.

He kept on! The whole section became very difficult to manage;
several members of the same class had to be admonished for
disobedience to me, but finding that I could no longer command the
respect of the Students if Mr Whitaker's conduct was tolerated, I
ordered him to come before the Faculty.

No notice was taken of the determination of the 13th of November, although it was of record and stood
unrepealed. "A motion was made to dismiss him,"
says the journal, "in consideration of his repeated
offences of this description," and it was laid on the table
with the special warning, that if he ever was guilty of the same
impropriety of deportment, he would be removed from the Institution.
This was also recorded.

With due respect, I ask, whether this was not carrying forbearance to
the extreme, & if perchance I submitted once more to such a
course, I had not the right to expect that Mr Whitaker should
be made to treat me with the respect due to a gentleman and a
teacher, & if he failed to do so, that the Faculty was in
duty bound to remove him? Knowing, however, how much I had at stake,
& how precarious were my hopes of redress, I took pains to
avoid all further collisions with Mr Whitaker.

Today, when called to recited, he replies in a very impertinent
manner, refuses to comply, & by mimicking my imperfect
pronunciation of English, throws the whole class into a violent
& protracted fit of laughter. In accordance with the
regulations of the University whichsay (Chapt 1 V. 6) that "for
gross & persevering violation of the rules of decorum, the
Student may be forthwith dismissed when the instructor shall deem it
necessary."

I quietly tell Mr Whitaker to retire; he ridicules me again, &
peremptorily refuses to obey. Incensed by his language &
demeanor, I reiterate my summons, adding by way of threat, that if
he does not leave the room, one of us two shall have to leave the
Institution. "Then it will be you" says he, and he
sinks back into his seat.

Six members of the Faculty voted that Mr Whitaker be dismissed, five
against it, & were joined by Gov. Swain, which caused the
motion to be lost. After the vote had been taken & result
ascertained, the President, little willing, as I imagine, to bear
the responsibility of such an unjust measure, found that the motion
was out of order. Dr Phillips was then instructed to see
Mr
Whitaker's parents; and this, in the very face of his
repeated offences, & of the two recorded resolutions of the
Faculty, is the only punishment, which is to be inflicted on
him!

P. S.Sept. 27th 1856

Mrs Whitaker
having asked time to write to her husband, in reply to Dr
Phillips's remarks, & an answer having been received;
the letter was read, & as Mr Whitaker showed no disposition
whatever to withdraw his son from College, the vote was again taken
whether he should be dismissed. The motion was lost by a majority of
one, & none substituted in its place. The intention of this
vote is so manifest, that I shall abstain from all comments. I can
only add that thereby, I am left powerless, to meet two hundred
& thirty Students.

In the hope & sincere belief that justice will done me, I
appeal to your well known impartiality. I am, Gentlemen, with great
respect, your obedient servant,